Over the last dozen years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has run the same playbook over and over again to great success, but the franchise can’t keep repeating itself forever. So far, though, Kevin Feige has done a superb job of coating the projects in an individual sheen that overcomes the sense of predictability and formula that seeps into the story, from Captain America: The Winter Soldier‘s political intrigue to Spider-Man: Homecoming‘s high school comdedy via Ant-Man‘s breezy heist capers.
Looking ahead, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings veers into martial arts territory, Thor: Love and Thunder is shaping up to be Flash Gordon on a $200 million budget and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is primed to dive into full-blown psychedelia, but they’re all still going to be superhero movies. It seems, though, that Marvel may be branching out a bit more in the near future, as tipster Mikey Sutton claims that the MCU could soon venture into the deepest, darkest depths of the horror genre.
According to the insider, Marvel have several projects in the early stages of the development that would see the shared mythology breaking new ground, with all of them being designed exclusively for Hulu with an R-rating in mind. The lineup is said to include Blade tie-in Tomb of Dracula, anthology series for lesser known characters Adventure Into Fear, futuristic sci-fi Deathlok, Doctor Strange spinoff Clea and a mature Ghost Rider show that could potentially be linked to the widely rumored Midnight Sons film.
While all of the aforementioned titles exist entirely in the realm of rumor and speculation for now, if they do happen, let’s hope they fare better than Marvel Television’s horror-tinged Helstrom, which was roundly panned by critics and audiences when it hit Hulu in October before getting canceled after just ten episodes.
